Harrisburg – Leaders of the the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Pennsylvania State Council today congratulated endorsed champions on their Primary Election victories.

In the face of unprecedented attacks on working families, the SEIU PA State Council redesigned its endorsement process to ensure that candidates seeking endorsement serve as true partners in expanding labor rights and ensuring that more Pennsylvanians have the opportunity to join and form unions. SEIU members interviewed an unprecedented number of primary candidates, many of whom are running on platforms that mirror the union’s core principles.

“For more than four decades, working men and women have faced assault after assault on their right to join together in a union and bargain for better wages, benefits and working conditions,” said Matt Yarnell, Secretary-Treasurer of the SEIU PA State Council and President of SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania. “SEIU members have lifted the bar on what it means to be a labor champion. Elected champions must not only defend against these egregious attacks, but must fight to make sure every Pennsylvanian has the right to form and join a union.”

In the coming weeks, the U.S. Supreme Court will decide on Janus v. AFSCME, a case that could reverse decades of labor protections for public sector workers. SEIU, the second largest union of public service employees in the U.S., has been fighting back against these attacks and continues to organize thousands of workers and raise wages for millions of Americans.

“In the face of such attacks, working people are fighting back. Teachers in Oklahoma, Arizona, and West Virginia are demonstrating their power at the bargaining table. Union members made their voices heard at the ballot box with the election of Conor Lamb,” said David Melman, Manager of the Pennsylvania Joint board of Workers’ United. “We’re just getting started. No court case is going to hold us back.”

The SEIU PA State Council is comprised of SEIU Local 32BJ, SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania, SEIU Local 668, and the Pennsylvania Joint Board of Workers United.

The State Council congratulates the following endorsed champions on their Election Night Victory: